Many of you know that you can add to Word’s AutoCorrect “replace as you type” list. You know, the little gadget quietly using a preset list to automatically correct many common typos such as changing “teh” into “the”.

Well, a question came in from a reader who was looking to put specially formatted text into this list so that a simple

Many of you may know that the F8 key will anchor the cursor for highlighting in MS Word. It’s a great trick that allows for text highlighting using only directional keys (arrows, page up/down) or a click of the mouse. It’s something that can really help people who aren’t so savvy when it comes to highlighting text in a document while holding down a multiple-key combination… Continue reading

Did you try yesterday’s MS Office tip concerning text wrapping around pictures? I bet you like how easy it makes wrapping text around those pictures and really embedding them within the document to produce such a professional-looking finished product. You’ve probably also figured out that it’s a bit of a pain to constantly tell Word how to behave with your pictures.

We often find ourselves moving text in MS Word with a quick drag and drop, but did you know that if you use a right click instead of a left click, Word will offer you far more than the usual move text thing?

Next time you want to move or even copy text simply follow these… Continue reading

We all know about watermarks, those light pictures or text placed behind our text on printed documents. They can mark a document as a draft or as confidential, or they could be used to enhance the appearance of a document.

With older versions of MS Word you had to do quite a bit of work to get that watermark. You were forced to go through the header… Continue reading

Do you frequently use MS Word to produce documents that contain chapters? Looking to use a more meaningful way to number your pages? Might I suggest that you use a page number / chapter number combination? Today, let’s consider the possibility.

First you’ll need a Word document that was created with chapters using the bullets and numbering feature. Wait! Hold on, there’s more. You can’t use just… Continue reading

Finished writing a word document? Hit F7 to spell check before saving it! It works in composing email in Outlook Express, too. It’s fast, it’s simple, and it can make your communications look more professional.

Every time you’ve ever tried to edit a document in MS Word while a window (such as the font formatting window) is open you get nowhere. That window just sits there, open and waiting. You certainly aren’t going to make any changes to the document until you’ve made your choices and either clicked OK or Cancel.

Did you know that you have some control over the type of grammar mistakes MS Word looks for?

No?

I didn’t either until I stumbled through some information about having Word’s grammar check catch common cliches in my writing. As I started investigating the options I discovered just how many choices we really do have.

To “Use It” you need to decide to accept the AutoComplete entry (exactly what’s in the bubble) and then hit the Enter key. The entire text string will be completely filled in and you’re ready to move on.

Have you ever wished you had a better way to emphasize your point? (Besides raising your voice of course. MS Word seems pretty immune to that tactic. Too bad – I can be pretty good at that one when I need it!)